Compare / Qwen3-Max vs Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)
Qwen3-Max vs Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 11 results on 3 sources that measured both models.
Of the 11 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 13 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-13-2e2420e3c5cc). See also Alibaba vs xAI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3-Max or Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)? The short answer
Pick Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning): it scores higher (Intelligence Index 25.2 against 15.6) at about the same price.
- Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 25.2 against 15.6.
- Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) is newer: released 10 Mar 2026, against 24 Sep 2025 for Qwen3-Max.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3-Max does better for sticking to the facts; Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) for reasoning and knowledge and writing.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3-Max | Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $0.78 in · $3.90 out | Not on sale |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $1.56 | – |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | – |
| Intelligence Index | 15.6 | 25.2 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | – |
| Released | 24 Sep 2025 | 10 Mar 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Developer based in | China | the US |
Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.
Which is better for what
Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every shared result
Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.
| Measure | Qwen3-Max | Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 123 · 73 of 243 measured | 15.6 | 25.2 |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 132 · 56 of 231 measured | 76.4% | 88.5% |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 140 · 68 of 242 measured | 11.9% | 32.4% |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 27 · 59 of 76 measured | 48.7% | 30.2% |
| UGI Leaderboard reported by UGI Leaderboard · 3 results | ||
| Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better 115 · 58 of 230 measured | 38.6 | 55.3 |
| Requested-length error · UGI% off the requested word count, lower is better 134 · 202 of 230 measured | 23.0% | 46.0% |
| Style adherence · UGIscore from 0 to 1, higher is better 155 · 164 of 230 measured | 0.33 | 0.33 |
Show all 11 results (4 more)
| Measure | Qwen3-Max | Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results | ||
| IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 118 · 2 of 195 measured | 44.2% | 82.9% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 154 · 120 of 233 measured | 50.0% | 67.7% |
| Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 91 · 34 of 190 measured | 20.5% | 40.9% |
| τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 79 · 10 of 193 measured | 74.3% | 96.5% |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3-Max better than Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)?
Pick Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning): it scores higher (Intelligence Index 25.2 against 15.6) at about the same price.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3-Max or Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)?
Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) ranks 66 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 121 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3-Max or Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)?
Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) ranks 59 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 99 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3-Max or Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning)?
Qwen3-Max ranks 50 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 127 for Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning).
Run Qwen3-Max and Grok 4.20 (0309, reasoning) on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.